Pacific Shellfish

What Pacific Shellfish does

Pacific Shellfish is a privately held, family-owned wholesale seafood distributor headquartered at 5040 Cass Street in Pacific Beach, San Diego, California. Founded in 1978 by owners Judd and Mary-Anne Brown, the company has served San Diego County restaurants, hotels, bars, and caterers for over 45 years and is self-described as 'San Diego's premier seafood company.' Its product portfolio comprises a Fresh Seafood Program (filleted-to-order fish sourced from Mexican Coops and northern suppliers, plus shellfish including oysters, mussels, clams, and fresh Dungeness and pasteurized blue crab meat), a Frozen Seafood Program (shrimp, squid, fish, octopus, lobster, and crab across multiple origins), and a Seasonal Catch Program featuring rotating local species such as White Seabass, Pacific Swordfish, and Baja Yellowtail.

The business operates a B2B wholesale distribution model with no proprietary technology, no e-commerce channel, and no app or digital ordering platform. Customers place orders via a dedicated phone line or after-hours voicemail recorder and receive next-morning delivery six days a week, with the company's own fleet bringing product directly to restaurant coolers. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is relationship-driven enterprise field sales, supported by a small visible staff (General Manager Nicholas Lorenz, Controller Kelly Benner, Purchasing/Sales lead Chris Johnson, and Lead Sales Anthony A.J. Graf), with named reference accounts spanning fine dining (George's at the Cove), mid-market restaurants (Prep Kitchen, Bistro West, Tom Ham's Lighthouse), and luxury hotels (The Lodge at Torrey Pines).

The Fishery, a related restaurant cross-linked from Pacific Shellfish's primary navigation, functions as a downstream brand extension and likely reference customer. Revenue, headcount, and unit-economics data are not publicly disclosed; the company has remained under continuous family ownership with no venture, private equity, or institutional capital participation indicated in source material.

Name

Pacific Shellfish

Legal name

Pacific Shellfish

Website

https://pacshell.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pacific Shellfish is a family-owned, San Diego-based wholesale seafood distributor, founded in 1978, supplying fresh, frozen, and seasonal seafood on a six-day-per-week direct-delivery basis to local restaurants, hotels, bars, and caterers via phone ordering.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wholesale Seafood Distribution

NAICS

Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers (424460)

SIC

Prepared Fresh Or Frozen Fish & Seafoods (2092)

akta.pro primary industry

Seafood Wholesale (Fresh & Frozen) (AFAIADAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Shellfish Value-Added Products (Shucked Oysters, Mussels, Clams; Cooked/Marinated) (AFANALAK)

Keywords

• Wholesale seafood distribution
• Fresh fish supply
• Restaurant seafood delivery
• Shellfish wholesale
• Frozen seafood distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Wholesale Seafood Distribution: Pacific Shellfish generates revenue through wholesale distribution of fresh, frozen, wild, and farmed seafood products to San Diego restaurants, hotels, bars, and caterers. They offer diverse product categories including fresh fish (filleted-to-order), shellfish (oysters, mussels, clams), crab (fresh Dungeness meat, pasteurized blue crab meat), shrimp, squid, octopus, lobster, and various frozen seafood products. Revenue is derived from product sales with delivery six days per week.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Pacific Shellfish is a B2B wholesale seafood distributor that procures fresh and frozen seafood — including filleted-to-order fish, shellfish, crab, shrimp, squid, octopus, lobster, and a rotating Seasonal Catch — from local, Mexican, and international producers, and delivers it six days a week to San Diego County restaurants, hotels, bars, and caterers. Customers place orders by phone (with after-hours voicemail) and receive next-morning delivery into their kitchen coolers.

Product overview

Pacific Shellfish is a San Diego-based wholesale seafood distributor operating since 1978, serving restaurants, hotels, bars, and caterers. The company offers a unified distribution service centered on fresh and frozen seafood products, combining a Fresh Seafood Program (supplying locally-sourced and Mexican/northern partner fish, shellfish including oysters/mussels/clams, and crab) with a Frozen Seafood Program (shrimp, squid, fish, octopus, lobster, and crab). These core offerings are supported by a Seasonal Catch Program featuring rotating local species and a six-day weekly delivery service with personalized account management. The product portfolio is built on sourcing from ethical and responsible producers, both local and international.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fresh Seafood Program Fresh seafood distribution service offering fish filleted to order and supplied 6 days a week. Includes supply from Mexican Coops for Yellowtail, Grouper, Baqueta, Mahi Mahi, and Rockfish, and northern suppliers for Halibut, Wild Salmon, Petrale Sole, Black Cod, and Rockfish fillet. Targeted at San Diego restaurants seeking high-quality, fresh fish for daily prep.
• Frozen Seafood Program Frozen seafood distribution program covering shrimp (Wild Mexican, Eastern P&D, Black Tiger, USA Gulf, South American Wild), squid (domestic and foreign), fish (Mahi Spears, Hamachi, Saku Block Tuna, Frozen Cod), octopus (Spanish and Eastern), lobster (claw and knuckle, tails and bodies), and crab (claws, picked meat, and whole cooked). Designed for San Diego restaurants, hotels, bars, and caterers needing reliable frozen seafood supply.
• Shellfish Products Distribution of shellfish varieties including oysters, mussels, clams, fresh Dungeness crab meat, and pasteurized blue crab meat. Supplied to San Diego restaurants, hotels, bars, and caterers as part of the company's wholesale seafood portfolio.
• Seasonal Catch Program Seasonal local seafood offering featuring rotating species such as Local White Seabass, Pacific Swordfish, Baja Yellowtail, Pink Baqueta, Local Opah, and Pacific Rockfish. Supply is updated daily and sourced from ethical and responsible local producers for San Diego restaurant customers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 45+ years serving San Diego restaurants since 1978

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Santa Monica Seafood: Large Southern California seafood distributor with showrooms, retail, and broad foodservice distribution. Overlaps with Pacific Shellfish in Southern California foodservice seafood distribution, but at materially larger scale and broader product offering.
• True World Foods: National seafood distributor with branches across the U.S., supplying restaurants and sushi operators. Overlaps with Pacific Shellfish in fresh/frozen seafood wholesale to restaurants but at substantially greater scale and national reach.
• Seattle Fish Company: Multi-regional seafood distributor supplying restaurants and retailers across the western U.S. Similar wholesale distribution model targeting food-service customers, but with a significantly larger footprint and broader product portfolio.
• Inland Seafood: Large specialty seafood distributor serving restaurants across the Southeast and beyond. Comparable in fresh and frozen seafood wholesale to foodservice, but operates at enterprise scale with broader logistics.
• Pacific Seafood Group: One of the largest vertically integrated seafood companies in North America, with harvesting, processing, and distribution across the West Coast. Broadly comparable in seafood wholesale distribution but operates at materially larger scale and broader geographic footprint.

Regional players

• Local Ocean Seafoods: Oregon-based wholesale seafood distributor serving the Pacific Northwest with fresh and frozen seafood to restaurants. Comparable in product mix and customer base, but operates in a different geographic market.

Emerging players

• Citarella: New York-based seafood retailer and wholesaler with strong fresh seafood brand. Partial overlap with Pacific Shellfish in seafood category, but emphasizes retail/direct-to-consumer in addition to foodservice.

Direct peers

• Stavis Seafoods: Boston-based wholesale seafood distributor serving restaurants and retailers in the Northeast. Comparable business model focused on fresh seafood distribution to chefs, with a similar owner-operator heritage.
• Fortune Fish & Gourmet: Mid-size specialty seafood and gourmet food distributor serving restaurants and foodservice operators in the Midwest. Similar business model serving restaurant customers with fresh and frozen seafood, though in a different region.
• Catalina Offshore Products: San Diego-based wholesale seafood distributor serving restaurants and retailers in Southern California. Direct geographic and product overlap with Pacific Shellfish, making it the closest head-to-head competitor in the San Diego market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Pacificshellfish
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pacific-shellfish-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pacific Shellfish